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December 27, 2009

For Christian Knights, romantic love is an impulse that can threaten one’s moral bearings. For this reason, they can be ambivalent about sexuality. For Knights, the sexual ideal is found in the example of the Virgin Mary or the virgins in Revelation whose chastity makes them worthy for rescue by God during the End Times. And Christianity features a celibate Messiah and a repressed apostle (Paul). For Christian Knights, sexual purity is the ideal.

As a result, Christian Knight churches sometimes offer little advice to young unmarried couples beyond the dictum to “pray together and don’t have sex.” (This is the focus of the chastity-encouraging “True Love Waits” program popular among evangelical Christians.) These churches encourage young people to pursue only “Christ-centered” romantic relationships, casting them as acceptable only if one’s romantic interest believes the “correct” things, and is willing to accept a holy chaperone–the Holy Spirit–in the relationship.